veganism

We ♥ our Vida Vegan members, and we know you do too! So we’ll be chatting with a new one each month to see what they’re up to and excited about—and steal their breakfast ideas.

First up is a VVC’er who’s been with us since the beginning: Crissie of RunCrissieRun. She’s a mom in a mixed-dietary home (her daughter did just ask for a Tofurky roast for her birthday dinner!), and a full-time career woman, lifelong learner, and wannabe athlete (workouts of choice are running and yoga). On top of all that she tries to travel, read, write, and have as much fun as possible.

Who would you want with you on a stranded island? And what board game would that person surprise you with?My husband Derek. Cribbage!

If money were no object, what would you like to do all day/what would your ideal day look like?I would want to sleep in, volunteer at women’s and children’s shelters leading running groups, yoga classes, and vegan cooking classes!

What dinner would you cook to really impress nonvegan family & friends?A big Indian meal! In fact, that is my plan when my parents come to visit in a few weeks. And a build-your-own taco bar always does the trick.

If you could have a sanctuary for any creature in the world, what would it/they be?Only one?? Elephants.

What’s your favorite breakfast to make on a day off?Sprouted grain bread with Daiya cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, and a green smoothie.

Would you rather be able to teleport or fly?Teleport. Why waste the time it takes to fly??

Have any critters at home you’d like to brag about?Three! A 12-year-old pup named Sammie, a 14-year-old cantankerous cat named Bumble (at least she wants us to think she is), and a 1-year-old fluffball named Ginny, who has helped Bumble realize she’s not as old and cantankerous as she’d like us all to believe!

What excites you most about veganism today?People no longer find it cultish or weird, and as a result there’s much more interest and acceptance.

What have you been up to lately? Trying to keep my head above water between work, taking classes, and living my life.

After wrapping up VVC 2013—you know, returning rental fire extinguishers and dropping off the recycling from the Galarama—Janessa, Jess, and I all collapsed for a few good hours. Like real hard.

But then the sun rose, and it was back to spreadsheets and emails and meetings. Even with Janessa flying all over the damn globe, we’ve been videochatting and scheming and daring to dream. And we gotta tell ya, we’re pretty excited about the future of Vida Vegan. (Aside from VVC3, because yes, we’re obviously planning that too!)

The website: Vida Vegan Headquarters. Sure, we’ve given ourselves a little spit ‘n’ polish here, but by mid-2014, we hope to bring you an expanded site, where we can share so much more with you, including an events calendar and forum threads…because not everyone wants to be on Facebook, and besides, we can be a lot better organized here.

Vida Vegan Focus. More one-day intensives, like our Fall 2012 Tech offering, where we focus on one main topic for a small group. In 2014 and 2015, we’re looking at topics like Photography, Ethical Business, Blog Building, and Organization & Outreach.

The Vida Vegan Creative Retreat. What could you do with five or so days to focus on writing or photography while eating all vegan food in a relaxing setting? Maybe with breaks for yoga or meditation or a little nap under a tree? We’re location-scouting for a very intimate group (think a maximum of 30) for some loosely guided artistic/work retreat.

Online courses and guides. We know not everyone can travel to our events—although we are definitely getting out on the road to reach more of you—so we’re developing some very focused online courses and downloadable guides so you can get your learn on while still in pajamas (which is exactly how we do a lot of our planning). Let us know if there’s something you want us to cover!

Local events. We’ll also be producing some smaller, Portland events…maybe even one in early December 2013.